


Little Toy Giraffe

by marrieddorks



Series: Single Dad Verse [1]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Kid Fic, M/M, Meet-Cute, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-09-22
Packaged: 2018-04-22 23:06:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4854047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marrieddorks/pseuds/marrieddorks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No, despite the hardships Jensen adored being a father.  There wasn’t a moment he questioned any of it, especially when he could see the love he held for her reflected back at him in her identical-to-his-own green eyes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Toy Giraffe

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, y'all :) I saw a single parent!au list on tumblr and this sort of sprouted. It's cute and fluffy and, I'm not going to lie, I really like it a lot. Hope you enjoy!

Being a single father wasn’t something Jensen had imagined for his future. In fact, it was one of the last things he had ever imagined. Of course, most gay men don’t worry about getting a girl pregnant anytime in their life either, but accidents happen, especially when heartbreak, alcohol, and old girlfriends from more confused times are involved.

Not that Jensen regretted any of it. Sure, it had been quite the scene when he and Danneel had woke up that next morning and it got even worse when she found out she was pregnant. Jensen could still remember the way his stomach dropped when she knocked on his door to tell him as though it was only yesterday and not three years ago. 

The immediate conversation following that initial one had been the most stressful conversation of Jensen’s entire life. He had been completely fine with Danneel getting an abortion since logic told him neither of them were ready to be parents yet. But the moment those words left her mouth, Jensen found himself protesting. No, it wasn’t ideal, but this could be his only chance at being a father. He didn’t protest too much though as the final decision would fall in Danneel’s hands as she would be the one carrying the baby. After a lot of thought, talk, and debate Danneel agreed, under the clause that she could play as big or as small of a role in the raising of their future child, and nine months later the pride and joy of Jensen’s life took her first breath. 

She had felt so tiny and fragile in Jensen’s arms that earliest instant of her life as he held her and it was in that moment that he truly fell in love for the first time. Her tiny hand wrapped around just one of his fingers, not even close to reaching all the way and she slept soundly against his chest that first night in the hospital. A day later he brought her home swathed in blankets his parents had bought and he kept her crib right next to his bed. It was hard on him having to get up throughout the night to soothe her cries, change her diaper, or give her a bottle, but that was all made up for the moment she graced him with her first real smile a month after he brought her home.

No, despite the hardships Jensen adored being a father. There wasn’t a moment he questioned any of it, especially when he could see the love he held for her reflected back at him in her identical-to-his-own green eyes. 

There were times that he did come close to questioning things though and today was one of those days.

Peyton had recently entered her terrible-twos. Jensen swore he wasn’t going to have any issues with her because she had been a picture-perfect model of a baby. But it turns out even she wasn’t immune to those awful toddler tantrums. Today was an example of that.

Jensen got home from work, paid Alona for babysitting, and greeted his daughter like always by picking her up and smothering her baby-soft face with kisses. She giggled and squirmed until Jensen took her to her room to help her put on her shoes and she jumped back into his arms so he could strap her into her car seat. Today was grocery day a.k.a. one of Peyton’s favorite days and she mumbled and laughed to the songs on the radio all the way to the store. 

But the moment they entered, all hell broke loose and she didn’t even seem like the same sweet baby she was not five minutes earlier. She had immediately begun to reach for anything and everything her tiny hands could grab from her seat in the grocery cart. Jensen took the items out of her hands with a gentle, “No, sweetheart,” but every time he did so she got angrier and more upset. They’d been in the store for about fifteen minutes when the crying started. Her face was splotchy, mouth drawn in a twisted grimace, whilst tears streamed down her cheeks and her wails took on that blood-curdling quality that had people looking at Jensen as though he was a child abuser.

“Peyton, please,” Jensen begged quietly, hand coming to pet at her hair, “stop crying, baby. Can you do that for daddy?” Peyton couldn’t hear him over her own noises, however, and Jensen could only smile apologetically at the other people in the aisle. Her cries were echoing throughout the entire store, the quivers further confirming many people’s thoughts that he wasn’t fit for parenting. 

He turned down another aisle, one filled waters, juices, and snacks for kids, and there, intelligently placed, was a shelf full of tiny toys that grocery departments knew kids would beg for once they got down this aisle. Jensen, desperate, reached for one of the toys, holding it in front of Peyton and making it dance. 

“Hey, Peyton, look! Don’t you want to play with it? It’s a funny,” he turned the toy toward himself for a split second to inspect just what it was, “little giraffe! And it wants to be your friend!” But Peyton simply continued to fuss, slapping at the toy offered to her and making it clatter on the linoleum below. 

Stressed, at a loss, and completely alone, Jensen turned his back for a moment to pinch at the bridge of his nose and take a few deep breaths. He could do this. He just had to think. Maybe he could detour towards the real toy aisles or even let her start eating a snack, just to keep her busy. Or he could –

It was then that he noticed the crying had stopped. 

Whirling around, he found Peyton sucking diligently at her thumb and staring down the aisle at the figure that had just entered. Her eyes were wide as she watched him and Jensen couldn’t help but copy the expression. The stranger was much taller than Jensen and Jensen wasn’t a small man by any means. Standing at 6’4” (at least) the man’s frame was accompanied by a small waist that went up and up into broad shoulders. He was hunched over slightly, reading over the various labels of vitamin waters, and long strands of dark hair shielded his face. Jensen and Peyton both continued to stare raptly and it wasn’t until the stranger began to straighten up that Jensen realized his was staring and quickly turned so he wouldn’t stand out as much. 

The man moved closer toward them, now looking at the cereal bars lined up on the high shelves, and Jensen continued to watch him out of the corner of his eye. Briefly the man looked over, eyes flitting to the two people he was sharing the aisle with, and it was the first time Jensen got a good look at his face. Slanted eyes shined brightly with a hazel hue that changed ever second the light was on them, a pointed nose only drew attention to the tiny mole right by it that was endearing, and too-pink lips were pressed together in thought. What Jensen noticed the most, however, was that when the man’s eyes caught Peyton’s, he smiled and gave a little wave with his large hands and Jensen almost lost it at the sight of that perfect smile and dimples. Peyton, still enamored with the stranger, popped her thumb out of her mouth to give him a gap-filled smile and to wave back clumsily. 

“She’s beautiful.” 

Jensen was so caught up in his surprise at Peyton’s taking to the stranger, that he didn’t register the voice at first. But looking up he found those hazel eyes now focused on him and he physically had to shake himself out of his reverie. 

“Thank you,” he said graciously, a phrase he had gotten used to saying in regards to his daughter. He was expecting that to be followed with a, “Oh, is she your daughter?” like usual, as a single father isn’t the usual expectation, but it never came. Instead the stranger’s attention was fixated back to Peyton.

“Hey, little darlin’,” he said gently and Peyton ducked her head shyly. “Why are you giving your daddy all sorts of trouble? You’ll have a much better time if you stop crying and,” he leaned down to pick up the plastic giraffe, “you don’t want to upset this little guy, do ya’?” He handed her the toy and she took it, hugging it to her chest with a smile. 

“Wow,” Jensen breathed, stunned by the turn of events. “I wish she’d do that when I try to calm her down.” The man laughed, those dimples coming out again, and Jensen gaped. 

“It’s just because you’re her parent. Trust me, no kid wants to listen to their parent, no matter how old they are. Just wait until she’s a teenager,” he trailed off with a good-natured smile. “I’m Jared.” 

“Jensen,” Jensen replied in kind, grasping the hand outstretched to him. “And this is Peyton.” 

“Well, Peyton, Jensen, it was very nice to meet both of you. I’ll let you get on your way, but you, little miss,” he said, pointing at Peyton who immediately giggled at the attention, “behave for your dad.” With that he kept walking, basket in hand, down the aisle and turned to give one last smile. When he was out of sight Jensen looked down at his now calm daughter and sighed. 

“So you’ll stop crying when a stranger asks you to, but not when I do? Who feeds you and lets you stay up later than you should? Me. And this is how you repay me.” He started pushing the shopping cart, tossing in a bottle of apple juice and a box of fruit snacks. “Don’t worry, I’d probably do anything he asked of me too,” he mumbled. 

The rest of the trip throughout the store was uneventful and, for that, Jensen was truly grateful. Peyton amused herself with the giraffe and Jensen was able to fill the cart with enough groceries to last them for the week. Finally they reached the checkout counter and Jensen started unloading the groceries onto the belt. It was then that he heard a voice behind him.

“We meet again,” Jared grinned, basket now loaded with essentials in his hand. 

“So we do,” Jensen smiled in return, unaware of the way the cashier’s eyes flicked back and forth between him and Jared. 

“And you look a lot happier,” Jared commented as he gave his attention to Peyton once more.

“Yeah, she was a perfect angel after talking to you. Got any tips on how to make her do that every time I try and calm her down?”

“Sorry, charm isn’t really something you teach, it’s just a natural born gift. Some of us have it and some of us not so much,” he answered, hazel eyes twinkling.

Jensen didn’t even know how to respond other than smiling like an idiot, so he quickly turned to slide his credit card. The bagboy had almost finished filling the cart back with the bags and the cashier gave him his receipt, a strange smile on her face. 

“Thanks again,” Jensen said, stuffing his wallet back into his back pocket. 

“No problem,” Jared smiled genuinely again.

“Say bye, Peyton,” he leaned down to tell his daughter as he started pushing the cart out of the store and Peyton lifted one tiny arm to wave clumsily at Jared once more. 

“Bye, Peyton,” Jared waved back, putting his own groceries on the belt. Out of excuses to stay, Jensen pushed the cart out the front doors and started for the car, the wheels on the cart rattling loudly on the asphalt. When he got to the cart though, Peyton’s bottom lip was starting to quiver and Jensen could sense the crying that was about to start.

“Oh, no, sweetheart, what’s wrong?” he asked the exact moment the first wail left her mouth. “You were just fine,” he muttered more to himself. Opening the door, he lifted her out of the cart and started strapping her into her car seat, her crying now directly in his ears. Groaning, he stood up and opened the trunk, briefly wondering if Alona had any success with her nap that afternoon. He moved up the driver’s seat and turned on the car, hoping that the radio would entertain her just long enough to get them home, but the crying continued as he loaded the cart. 

“I think you dropped something,” Jared’s voice sounded behind him again and Jensen whirled around to see him holding that damned toy giraffe in his hand. 

“That’s why she’s crying,” Jensen spoke, both annoyed and relieved that this little toy was the cause of all her problems. Jared moved to the side of the car and opened up the door where Peyton was and Jensen could heart the somewhat muffled one-sided conversation. 

“You can’t just go and leave your little friend behind, Peyton. That’d make him sad and you too.” The crying had once again stopped and Jensen found himself smiling fondly. Jared had really been a lifesaver today. After giving Peyton the giraffe, Jared walked back to Jensen who had just slammed the trunk shut. 

“Thank you…again,” he sighed, head tilting up to look at Jared. “How much was it?” Jared only laughed once more, pulling a receipt out of his pocket. 

“It wasn’t a lot, but here’s the receipt,” Jared answered as he handed over the thin piece of paper. “But there’s another number on there that’d I’d like you to look at instead.” Turning over the receipt Jensen saw a phone number scrawled there in messy handwriting. Jensen couldn’t even start to fight the upturn of his lips as he looked up to make eye contact with Jared again. “I was thinking I could take you – and Peyton, if she wanted to tag along – out to dinner sometime.”

“I,” Jensen stuttered before clearing his throat. “I think we’d both like that. But I don’t know how Peyton’s babysitter will feel about me taking a day away from her with Peyton.” 

“Oh, well in that case, maybe just you and I could go out,” Jared laughed, that twinkle back in his eyes. 

“I think that’d be great.” 

Separating for the final time that day, Jensen watched until Jared got into his own car and drove away with a wave. Slipping into the driver’s seat, Jensen spotted Peyton in the rearview mirror hugging that giraffe to her. She pointed out the window at Jared’s retreating car and made an unintelligible noise of excitement. 

“Yeah,” Jensen grinned, “me too, Peyton.”


End file.
